That Way
by TenTooInTheTARDIS
Summary: Obligatory TenToo and Rose after Bad Wolf Bay fic. "It was confusing, being in love with two men, who were really the same man, who were trapped in two different universes. Rose figured she'd work it out though. With her one-hearted Doctor by her side, there wasn't a thing in the universe that she couldn't work out."


The Doctor's fingers brushed against something in his pocket, something that he had been touching since the TARDIS faded out of his life. It was the bit of TARDIS coral left to him by the Doctor in brown. It was a comforting little lump.

The fingers of his other hand were wrapped tightly around Rose Tyler's. They hadn't stopped holding hands since Donna and the other Doctor had left.

"Well, I think I'm turning in for the night," Jackie said, lingering in the doorway. Rose turned toward her mother to tell her goodnight. They had just arrived home from Bad Wolf Bay. It was three in the morning. Tony was asleep, the Doctor would meet him when they all got up. Pete had greeted him warmly, telling him that the explanation of his existence could also wait until morning. Then the Doctor and Rose were headed up the stairs, toward Rose's room at the Tyler mansion.

"There are plenty of rooms," the Doctor said, turning his head to look at Rose. Her eyebrows furrowed.

"What?" she asked, tightening her grip on his hand. They hadn't spoken much on the plane ride here, just silently held on to each other for dear life.

"You know, spare rooms. Here. Plenty of spare rooms here," he said, looking away.

"Yeah… And?" she said, tugging on his hand to get him to look at her.

"I mean, if you wanted… I could… sleep in one of those other rooms…." he muttered, attempting nonchalance. He heard Rose make a noise in the back of her throat.

"You git," she said, pulling him toward the bed. They sat down side by side and Rose forced him to look at her.

"I just, I mean… If you're still not sure… If you still aren't sure that I'm _me_, I could give you some space. You didn't ask for this and I know you need time to adjust. I mean, I need time to adjust too," Rose cut off his ramble, knowing he'd only be worse once he worked up some steam.

"Doctor, I know that you're you. I do. I don't want _space_ from you. I had years of space from you and it was total shit. I want to lay down and fall asleep in your arms, just like I used to. You're right, we've got some adjusting to do. We've got some talks to that we need to have. But for tonight, I just want to be with you. I worked so hard to get back to you. And I choose to be here with you, by the way. You think for a second that I'd be here if I didn't want to be here? I want to spend my life with you, I want to work through all the shit that we have to work through to do that. I've only got one life too, you know. I'm not wasting it when I could grow old with you. It's all I've wanted since I met you," Rose said, grasping his chin gently so he couldn't look away. The Doctor blinked hard, clearing his throat.

"Good… That's good," he whispered. Rose breathed a weak chuckle.

"There's a shower just through there," she said, pointing at a door in the room.

"I'll find you some clothes to wear, I'm sure we've got some things that'll fit," she said as he walked to the bathroom. Rose went and found a pair of basketball shorts and a t-shirt for him to sleep in. None of the trousers that were around the mansion would fit his stupid spindly legs. She knocked on the bathroom door, calling his name.

"Come in, it's open," he called back. Rose could hear the shower. She rushed in, put the clothes down, and rushed out, doing her best not to peek at him. They weren't ready to have sex yet, but she wasn't sure she'd be able to keep from jumping him if she saw him dripping wet, stark naked in the shower. Rose decided to use a guest bathroom to shower instead of waiting on the Doctor to finish up. She grabbed some clothes and walked down the hall to the bathroom.

When she got back to her room after her shower, she found the Doctor hyperventilating on the bed, wrapped from the waist down in a fluffy green towel. Her eyes widened in shock as she rushed over to him, kneeling beside him.

"Doctor, Doctor, what's wrong?" she asked, combing her fingers through his hair. He swallowed hard, looking in her eyes. He was still gasping for breath.

"Rose," he gasped, placing his hands on her arms and holding them in place.

"I just- the clothes- I came out to talk about- and you were- and this bloody _rubbish single heart,_" he said, words pouring from his mouth.

"Okay shh, I think I know what's happening, love. You're having a small panic attack, okay? Just focus on your breathing. I know, I know. I used to get them too, when I got stuck here. It was just too much, you got overwhelmed. Just breathe, love, breathe," she soothed, coming up to sit next to him. She pulled him in close, cradling his head to her chest. He wrapped his arms around her, breathing slowing and deepening.

"Sorry," he whispered, sitting up once he had calmed down.

"No, don't apologize. There are a lot of new things you have to adjust to, and sometimes it's too much, too fast, and your body can't handle it. You've got one heart and no respiratory bypass, you're bound to react this way," she said, cupping his cheeks.

"I know, but you've got so much to be dealing with right now… I should be helping you, instead I'm having panic attacks over t-shirts," he muttered self-deprecatingly.

"Hey, none of that. We're here for each other, you understand me?" she said firmly, eyes locked on his. A goofy smile spread across his face.

"What's that look about?" she asked with an amused grin.

"You. You called me love earlier. And you are the best thing that ever happened to me in all of my lives," he said, grin still on his face. Rose blushed.

"Do you wanna tell me what happened now?" she asked softly.

"I got out of the shower, saw the clothes you'd set out for me, came out to ask you if it was reasonable for a t-shirt and pair of shorts to make my chest feel funny, and saw that you were gone. I couldn't think rationally, it didn't occur to me that you'd gone to take a shower. My heart started pounding, then I started to think about how I only have one heart, then I started thinking of all the other things that have changed in the last few hours and suddenly I couldn't breathe. My chest was constricting and all I could think was that I needed you. I've needed you for so long. I didn't know where you were. It was just one big overreaction," he said, breathing deeply.

"I'm sorry, I didn't even think that you'd react that way if I wasn't here when you got out. I just thought it would be nice to get the two of us showered and into bed as quickly as possible. I'm so sorry," Rose said, stroking his cheeks with her thumbs.

"No, it's not your fault! It's just been a long day. Being born takes a lot out of you," he said, trying to get a smile out of her. He succeeded, a small smile breaking out across her face.

"Shut up," she muttered, rolling her eyes.

"Maybe you should get dressed so that we can go to sleep?" she suggested. Her eyes widened suddenly.

"You can wear your suit if you want to!" she said nervously. He shook his head with a breathy chuckle.

"No, I think I can handle the clean clothes," he said, standing to walk to the bathroom. He dropped his towel in the doorway, giving Rose a nice view of his pert bum. She laughed, flopping back on the bed. After a moment, she stood up and pulled the covers back and slid in. The Doctor emerged from the bathroom, clothed in the very fabric which had caused his panic attack earlier. He was confident that as long as Rose was there, they wouldn't be so scary anymore.

RTRTRTRTRTRTRTRTRTRTRTRTRTRT

Tony Tyler was an absolute joy. He bounded down the stairs, barreling directly into his sister's legs. Rose laughed, crouching down to wrap the boy in a hug.

"Rose, I missed you," he said, snuggling in to her.

"Tony, I was gone for a day," she laughed, ruffling his blonde hair.

"It was a really long day," he said with a pout. Rose hugged him tightly.

The Doctor was sitting at the island, eating breakfast. Tony's eyes widened as they landed on him.

"Rose… is that…" The Doctor slid down off his chair to kneel next to the boy.

"Hello Tony, I'm the Doctor," he said. Tony gasped, rushing to hug the Doctor.

"Rose told me stories 'bout you," he exclaimed.

"She showed me pictures 'a you on her phone too! Both yous! How come you're here? I thought Rose was going to live with you! This is much better!"

"A lot happened in the day that I was gone, Tony. But the Doctor and I are here for good. One day we'll tell you the whole story, okay buddy?" Rose said, biting her lip. She didn't know how to explain a biological metacrisis to a six year old.

"I've only got one heart now. I'm going to start getting old," the Doctor said, wrinkling his nose. Tony giggled.

"So you're not an alien anymore?" he asked, cocking his head to the side.

"Oh no, I'm still alien! I'm just a little human now too."

RTRTRTRTRTRTRTRTRTRTRTRTRTRT

The Doctor and Rose were sitting on an old swing that was in the mammoth back yard of the mansion. They'd been talking for hours about the years they'd been apart. They talked about how much they'd missed each other, new friends that they'd made, good times they'd had, the nightmares they'd faced, the terrible days when it was difficult to even move. Now they were talking about the Doctor in brown.

"So he's all alone again?" Rose asked, staring at the ground. The Doctor nodded.

"Donna's brain wouldn't have been able to handle the metacrisis. Human with a Time Lord brain, it just isn't possible."

"Do you think he's alright?" she asked, biting her bottom lip. The Doctor knew the answer to that question. He decided to tell her the truth.

"Not yet. One day he will be, but right now, I don't think he is. God, he lost everything. He lost you again," he said, his voice breaking. There were tears in both of their eyes.

"He wanted us to be happy though, didn't he?"

"Of course he did. He only ever wanted you to be happy. In a way, you'll be alive forever to him. He doesn't have to watch you grow old while he stays the same. He also doesn't have to worry about you being unhappy and working yourself to death trying to get back to him. He knew we'd be happy together, and as jealous as he was about that, he's also very happy for us. One day he'll be able to think about us without it hurting too badly, and he'll mostly just be happy for us." Rose nodded, biting her bottom lip again. She turned to look the Doctor in the eyes.

"I love you, you know," she whispered. He blinked the tears in his eyes away, laughing breathlessly. It was the first time she'd ever told him that. _Him_, the Doctor with one heart. She loved him. Of course he knew that. She was the Rose Tyler and he was the Doctor. Of course they loved each other.

"I know. It's nice to hear though," he said, reaching over to lace their fingers together. "I love you too."

"You're going to miss him. A lot. I will too," the Doctor said.

It was confusing, being in love with two men, who were really the same man, who were trapped in two different universes. Rose figured she'd work it out though. With her one-hearted Doctor by her side, there wasn't a thing in the universe that she couldn't work out.

"We need to get the TARDIS coral growing soon, don't we?" she asked.

"Well yeah, the sooner she's matured, the sooner we hit the stars, Rose Tyler," he said with a smile.

"We have to get a house," he gasped, eyes wide. Rose laughed.

"Yeah, we probably do," she said.

"Terrifying?" she asked hesitantly. He swallowed. For a long moment, he was silent, contemplating. He thought of doors and carpets and closets. He thought of waking up in Rose's arms every morning and sharing showers and cooking together in their kitchen. He thought of arguments over pants being left on the bathroom floor and washing up the dishes. Something in his single human heart seemed to make all those things seem alright. Some of them seemed brilliant even. He had a sneaking suspicion that the part of his heart that told him those things was the part that Rose owned.

"With you? Nah, it'll be brilliant," he said softly.

RTRTRTRTRTRTRTRTRTRTRTRTRT

On their 3rd day in Pete's world, they bought the Doctor a new wardrobe. He got new suits, a new long brown coat, new boxers, t-shirts, jeans, jumpers, everything he'd need. He was hesitant to agree to the jeans until he'd seen the way Rose practically drooled at the sight of his bum in them. On their 13th day in Pete's world, Rose kissed him. They did a lot of kissing after that.

On their 21st day in Pete's world, they decided it was time to start looking at houses. They looked at tons of places, none of them were just right. Finally, they found it. Their home. It was perfect. There wasn't an overabundance of space, it was just the two of them, and once the TARDIS was ready they'd be gone often. It was blue, TARDIS blue to be exact, two stories. There was a beautiful library and a huge back yard. A bathroom on each story. Their bedroom was on the second story. They'd asked Pete if they could have the swing from the Tyler mansion to put in the back yard. The roof had a wonderful flat section that would be perfect for star-gazing. (There was a ladder that led from their bedroom to the roof.) They fell in love with the place and were moved in by the 25th day in Pete's world. On their 25th night in Pete's world they finally consummated their relationship. The TARDIS coral was growing quickly. Well, quickly for a TARDIS, anyway.

They were on the roof, gazing at the stars. The Doctor had a huge telescope on the roof, but tonight they were just laying out on a blanket, holding hands and thinking of returning to all of time and space.

"Where do you wanna go first?" Rose asked, turning her head to look at him. He thought for a moment, looking at the sky. He pointed to the biggest, brightest star. His face was relaxed and beautiful, a sight that Rose would get to wake up to for the rest of her life. And god, she loved him so much.

"That way?" he asked, licking his bottom lip. She didn't even glance at the sky before she answered him.

"That way."


End file.
